The Most Famous Opera Duets

CD

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Overview

The Most Famous Opera Duets

EMI's The Most Famous Opera Duets is a decent collection of excerpts that delivers on enough of its promise to be forgiven its superlative title. A few notable blockbusters are missing, like "O soave fanciulla" from "La boh�me" and the evening prayer from "Hansel and Gretel," but overall the collection covers its territory well -- from the famous "Flower Duet" from "Lakm�" to "Sull'aria" from "The Marriage of Figaro." The recordings themselves are culled from EMI's catalog of complete operas, and so the quality is consistently good, though only a few of the excerpts here could be considered the best examples of their kind (Mady Mespl�'s "Lakm�" headlines that group). Perhaps by mistake, or perhaps not, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf receives top billing on the front cover's list of singers even though she doesn't appear anywhere on the album. And, even though these sorts of collections are more for pleasure listening than study, the complete absence of texts and translations means that if listeners do get curious about the words they'll be out of luck. The entire package could have used more love and attention, but it still makes for good listening. Mission accomplished, but without any flair.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

These are all superb artists, performing at the very top of their game. Buy this recording. It's remarkable.

Guest

More than 1 year ago

If you know anything about opera, then you know that this is a good CD just by looking at the song titles and from which opera they come from. The singers do an excellent job on each of these well-loved songs.

Guest

More than 1 year ago

For the price of this CD, it's actually quite good. The quality isn't amazing, but it does provide a nice overview of some of opera's greatest duets. If nothing else, it's a wonderful springboard from which to learn about various operas.